We're not Criminals, We're Pirates!
by SpaceFrogFren
Summary: Arthur Morgan should have died... His soul should have gone straight up to heaven for buying John enough time to escape... But... It didn't, and now he is stuck in a world full of magic and pirates, without a friendly face in sight he must learn from his past mistakes as he joins a new gang and attempts to prevent what happened with the last gang!


**Disclaimer: This is the Anime, Not the Manga. **

**This also contains spoilers for the ending of Red Dead 2**

**Enjoy.**

**We're not criminals… We're Pirates!**

**Chapter 1: That's the way it is.**

Darkness surrounded Arthur Morgan as he shuddered and coughed in the abyss, his naked body shaking as though a blizzard was going through his soul, his lungs felt like a horse had trampled them and then had a lit cigarette shoved in them.

His breathing was barely breathing at all, more like whimpering and gasping as his lungs were more like popped balloons than actual organs… Despite all the pain and suffering he was feeling, his thoughts went immediately to what happened less than five minutes ago; telling John to be with his family, beginning Dutch to just listen to his pleas that Micah, Micah was the goddamn rat, saying goodbye and thank you to his horse, and most importantly… Hearing John call him "Brother."

It was so surreal to him, for most of his life him and John never got along, but after his TB diagnosis, they were now closer than ever… So much so that Arthur was willing to throw his life away so that John could be with his family, so that he wouldn't make the same mistakes Arthur did…. So that he could live the life Arthur wished he had.

As the cowboy began to look around, he saw nothing but darkness, the ground and sky were darker than the night… He began to take a step forward, only to collapse onto the ground gasping for air in a coughing fit, every second his lungs seemed to get worse and worse, as though they were being plunged underwater!

Calling out in the darkness, his voice was no stronger than a whimper and every word that came up burned his throat and lungs more than any fire could.

"Someone…. Please…. I need help!" He cried before coughing harder than he ever coughed in his life.

_Is this it? _He thought to himself. _Coughin for the rest of eternity in this goddamn pit?_

As he continued to gasp for air, he began to see a light in the distance.

If his lungs weren't deflated before, they certainly were now.

"Can't... Breathe…." He gagged as he began to hyperventilate, the pain in his chest and throat was so great he began to feel tears form in the back of his eyes.

A voice then called out to him.

"Run towards the light, Arthur!"

It was Rains Fall's voice! Arthur blinked rapidly in disbelief, he was hallucinating from all the pain! He had to be!

"Run!" The voice repeated, this time louder… As though Rains Fall was next to him!

Using all the strength in his body, Arthur began to crawl towards the light, he didn't even have the strength to stand up! And he could barely move! It felt like rocks were weighing him down as he desperately crawled towards the light, gasping for air every few seconds.

After what seemed like an eternity of desperation and pain, Arthur finally crawled into the light, revealing….

A long narrow corridor filled with nothing but blinding white light, as though he were on the surface of the sun.

_I'm in hell! _He thought to himself as he began to crawl to the end of the corridor, still gasping for the sweet sweet air that he coveted more than anything else.

Every inch forward he made, he felt more air fill his lungs, every step he took made him cough less, returning the strength to his body until eventually… He could stand again.

When he returned to his feet, he heard another voice call out; it was Dutch's voice!

"Run Arthur! Go to the end, son!"

Then Hosea's!

"Run boy! You've only got one chance to make it!"

Then John's!

"Arthur… RUN!"

And that's just what Arthur did, using every tendon, bone, and muscle in his body, and putting every ounce of energy into one… singular task….

Run like hell.

As he ran, he felt the pain in his lungs ease, and the old tired muscles… Grow softer and younger, he felt his beard being erased from his face, and he felt his hair grow a few centimeters longer and he began to shrink a few inches…

He was becoming younger as he ran down the corridor which just seemed to grow longer and longer the more he ran, everyone he ever knew was now screaming at him to run run run run run!

And then… He heard the voice.

"Run!"

It was Isaac's… His son…

"Isaac?" He turned around, his voice was now higher-pitched and his beard was completely gone… He was much, much younger and about three inches shorter, his hair was not that different from when he was thirty-five, maybe a few centimeters longer and maybe a little browner than usual, his eyes were bigger and less tired, and his skin younger…

As he turned to look for his son, all he saw was the white light corridor behind him; No one was present… Only light.

"Isaac?" He weakly called out, only to hear nothing.

"Right… You ain't real… None of you is…" He sighed and slowly walked the rest of the corridor, hoping that maybe, just maybe, his son would be at the end waiting for him.

Instead… As he began to travel further and further down the corridor, his body began to weaken once more, until eventually… He just blacked out!

Hitting the ground with a loud "THUMP!" he slept soundly.

* * *

Awakening, he found himself in a swirl, nay, a tornado of color, the void was no longer pitch black, instead; it was every color known to man and even more!

As Arthur stirred and opened his eyes, he saw a young Dutch Van Der Linde standing in front of him, looking down at him with fire in his eyes.

"Are you ready, Arthur?" He asked with a smirk as Arthur nodded, he was no older than eighteen at this point and his voice certainly was less gruff, but he accepted it, trying to question this whole thing would just lead to his mind imploding in on itself… And he had seen enough strange things out in his travels to know that some questions were better left unasked.

"I'm ready Dutch." He quietly said.

Dutch then smiled, as the colors that were reflecting off the walls began to flood Arthur's vision, it was like an insane man's seizure with all the colors and hues drilling a hole into Arthur's head!

He wanted it to stop; he wanted it so badly to just end, just stop the anguish in his skull!

All the misery and agonizing ended with a massive flash and once again the cowboy was unconscious…

* * *

"Hey… Who's this guy?"

A thin pirate with a large beard and a gold tooth began to nudge Arthur's body with his foot as the cowboy stirred.

"No clue…" Another with a unibrow shrugged. The Unibrow pirate then peered closer at Arthur's clothing. "His clothing is weird, but… I kinda like it."

"He's unconscious or dead, right?" The thin pirate smiled, his tooth gleaming in the sun. "Maybe we could take it off him!"

As the two began to grin maliciously at each other, Arthur opened his eyes, surprising the two.

Coughing and gasping for air, he realized something…. His tuberculosis was completely gone! The pain in his lungs no longer was present, and there were no signs of it ever being there in the first place! No coughing or choking on his own breath! He began to celebrate.

"It's… It's gone!" He giggled like a child to himself, cheering with a loud woo as the two pirates looked at each other in bewilderment, standing up he began to dance and scream.

"IT'S GONE! WHO'S A BLACK LUNG NOW MICAH?! YOU SON OF A BITCH!" He screamed into the sky before realizing where he was.

"Where the hell?..." He trailed off, and turned around, only to see two pirates snarling at him.

Arthur quickly made sure he was armed as he saw the pair sneer at him, luckily enough he had his cattleman revolvers right where he always did, his old jacket, hat, and blue undershirt were also right on his once nude body… still fitting like a glove.

"Hi there." He smiled, tipping his hat to the two pirates, who took a step closer, their yellow teeth now bared… Like a wolf's right before killing a rabbit. "This place wouldn't happen to be Guarma… Would it?" Arthur asked.

The pirates frowned and looked at each other in confusion before the one with the Unibrow asked. "Guarma… Is that some sort of food?"

Arthur shook his head and chuckled. "No… Er, Nevermind."

The pirates inched closer, one of them, the thin one, already had a weapon drawn, it was a small knife that was the same size as Arthur's, except it was serrated on both sides and the tip was a little sharper, definitely more of a stabbing knife than anything else.

"What's a boy like you doing out here all by yourself?" The Unibrow pirate growled as Arthur now had his left hand gripping a revolver.

"Boy?" Arthur asked, before running to the water, his facial hair was gone, and his skin much fairer and healthier, he laughed in astonishment. "Never mind." He then turned to the pirates and smiled.

"Listen…" Arthur began as he took a step forward, not showing any signs of concern or intimidation. "You two seem like decent men… And I'd hate to bloody up this nice beach, so why don't the two a you turn around and go bother some other poor bastard."

The Thin Pirate lunged, screaming "Why don't we kill you instead?!" Before getting smacked in the nose with the cattleman revolver, making a loud "Crunch!" as his nose bent backwards from the attack, blood already flowing out of both nostrils as he heeled back onto the sandy ground in pain.

The Unibrow pirate looked on in fear as he drew his sword, to which Arthur simply drew both revolvers and pointed them straight at the criminal, who nervously shook, clutching his sword in fear as the Cowboy smirked.

"Now there are two ways this can go, you drop that sword and come get your poor friend and leave, and I'll pretend this never happened… Or, you can try and stab me from that far away, and I can kill both you and your friend here with two shots…"

The pirate didn't move; instead, he only shook as Arthur cocked the revolver hammer back and pressed the barrel up against the pirate with a broken nose's temple.

"Imma give you till the count of three, fore I kill both y'all…"

"One…"

The Pirate didn't move

"Two…"

He still didn't move; Instead, he simply shook more and more until…..

**POW!**

A bullet went straight through his legs, causing him to scream and fall to the ground, wetting his pants and sobbing a little as Arthur laughed, the cowboy twirling his revolver as he glanced at the other pirate, who was still holding his bleeding nose in pain.

Arthur then looked behind him, where a massive gunny sack lay on the beach, inside… were most of his rifles! A carbine, bolt action, double-barreled shotgun, rolling block rifle, and even a bow all shined in the sun as Arthur searched farther in the sack, he felt his old satchel sitting at the bottom!

Inside the Stachel: two bottles of Snake Oil, some health tonics, Cigarettes, more bullets than Arthur could count, a few snacks, some tent supplies, and his knife!

Holding the knife in his hands, it felt weightless and had a button in the middle of it, Arthur pressed it, only for the blade to extend about a foot and a half, and a crossguard to pop out in the middle!

"A sword?" Arthur chuckled as he pushed the button again, reverting it back to the small knife, and put it in its holster on his left hip.

Swinging the burlap sack over his right shoulder and satchel over his left, Arthur began to walk off the beach and onto the town's streets, leaving the two harmless pirates; and began to search for someone a little nicer to tell him where he was.

"How the hell did you get yourself into this?" He rhetorically inquired as he continued to wander throughout the city streets, abandoned as though the entire city had suffered from a terrible epidemic, Arthur peered through the window of a small store, seeing nothing but the counter and a few stands.

Building after building, Arthur searched for someone, anyone…. He was beginning to grow more and more frustrated with every empty building; it was like the whole town had gone on holiday! Where the hell was everyone?!

"Godammit!" Arthur cried out as he searched what had to be the seventh house at this point, only to find it completely abandoned! There had to be someone! He considered going back to question the two pirates.

"They're probably too dumb to know where we are…." He sighed, rubbing sweat off his forehead with the palm of his hand, he began to think out loud.

"Never take from a man suffering from some life threatin disease ever again." He chortled and shook his head.

"Well… Worse comes to worse I can always stay in one of these here homes… Suppose they comfy enou-"

**BOOM!**

An explosion suddenly fired into the home and launched Arthur right through the stone wall! Knocking the wind right out of his body! As he smashed into wall after wall, his ribs nearly getting crushed as he tumbled into the fifth home. The roof of the home falling right on top of him just for good measure!

Coughing, he struggled to get up, as a hulking wooden plank lay on his back, along with rubble and dust.

Everything hurt; It was like being in that hallway again! Every movement he tried to make just ended up leaving him sore as he violently began to shake, trying desperately just to get the tremendous plank off his back! His entire body began to ache as he pushed himself off the ground, the plank still on him as he used his arms and legs to get up, his entire body vibrating at a disturbing level as he pushed and pushed… The sun making him sweat harder than waterfall…

Eventually, after nearly breaking his entire back and using all of his strength, he got up, the wooden plank falling to the ground with a satisfying "thud!"

Arthur began to look for the source of the explosion, first… He assumed it to be a large ship docked near the house he was in, but quickly rejected that theory as he realized…. Nobody was on it.

He then looked behind him, only to see a large building overlooking the houses with a tent on the roof and a cannon! As he listened closely, he heard people beginning to chant near the tent; it was too faint to make out from where he was, but it definitely was enough to confirm that people were on that roof.

Frowning, he brushed the dust off himself and began to walk towards the large building, both hands gripping his revolvers… After a minute of walking towards it, the chanting was now loud enough for the cowboy to make out; it was a name.

"Buggy! Buggy! Buggy!"

Curiosity was beginning to flood Arthur's mind as he hiked up the stairs to the roof of the building…. Who was this "Buggy?" Why were they chanting his name? Why destroy an entire row of houses?

Whatever the reason, Arthur was going to find out…. As he reached the top step and walked out onto the roof, he heard a boy cry out.

"Zoro!"

In front of him, a crowd of pirates all smiling and laughing as a green-haired man fell to his knees in pain as a dagger pierced his side.

Looking a little closer, Arthur saw…. A hand! Floating in the air and holding the knife that was currently in the green-haired man's body!

"What…. The hell?!" The man gasped as floating hand pulled the knife out of his side, and returned to a large, clown looking pirate with a flashy cape, the pirate had a floating leg, and severed torso but was somehow… To Arthur's shock…. Still alive!

"What the hell is this?" Arthur muttered to himself.

"I'm a chop-chop person who can't be cut!" the clown screamed then cackled, as Arthur began to brush past the crowd of pirates, the clown's limbs reattaching to his body as the pirates looked to Arthur in confusion.

"Who the hell is that?" One quietly muttered as their leader frowned in confusion, staring at Arthur as though he were some sort of freak, Arthur quickly made his way past the onlooking pirates and stood right next to the green-haired man, who also looked bewildered at his mere presence.

Arthur then noticed two other people who weren't part of the pirates, an orange-haired girl, and a boy with a straw hat a little younger than Arthur locked up in a cage, as though he were some sort of animal.

"Howdy…" The cowboy calmly said, waving to the clown… who only glared.

"Who the hell are you?!" The clown growled as Arthur lit up a cigarette.

"Me…? Heh, I'm nobody… And I don't mean to interrupt your affairs here, especially considering I have no idea what's going on here… But I gotta ask something…" Arthur then pointed to the cannon. "Is that your cannon over there?"

The clown looked behind him and then nodded with a toothy snarl. "Yeah… That's my cannon!"

"I see…." Arthur then pulled out both revolvers from their holsters, twirling them before pointing both barrels directly at the clown.

"Now… I don't know if you know this, but that canon there nearly killed me a few minutes ago, so I figured I would pay you a visit, maybe work out some sort of arrangement… But seeing as how you stabbed this here man next to me a few seconds ago, and have got that boy looked up inside that cage there… Well, I'm led to believe that you're a disagreeable man… And disagreeable men are usually the kind of men I put in the ground."

The clown laughed. "Are you… Challenging me? Hahahaha! I've never even heard of you before! How you could you possibly expect to beat me, Buggy… Captain of the Buggy pirates if famous pirate-hunter like Zoro can't?!"

"Well….Yeah, I guess I'm challenging you…." Arthur then dropped his cigarette and stepped on it, crushing it with his boot. "I ain't exactly new to robbing and killing folk… And I'm sure you ain't gonna be the strangest thing I've seen all day, so… I ain't scared, question is… Are you? Because if your fighting a man like me, you ought to be scared."

Buggy cackled, both surprised and amused by Arthur's answer. "Hahaha! I like you! All right, cowboy! Let's fight!"

Arthur then turned to the green-haired man, who looked up at him with doubt.

"Go on… Go help your friends over there… Leave this court jester to me…"

He sighed, then stood up and limped over to the orange-haired girl in silence.

"Ready?" Arthur asked, pulling back both hammers on the revolver.

"Ready." Buggy smiled…. and then lunged.

* * *

**BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM!**

Six shots, Buggy dodged all of them… Sidestepping and twirling like a crazy ballerina with knives in hand, Arthur quickly fired six more with the other revolver, again missing as though he were drunk and trying to shoot a mosquito out of the air.

By the time he put both guns away and pulled out his own knife, Buggy had already begun to swing at him, forcing him to stay on the defensive, constantly jumping back or sidestepping just to avoid being hit or stabbed with a knife!

He began to tire quickly as Buggy threw attack after attack at him! When he wasn't dodging, he was attacking! Slashing and stabbing at any opportunity the clown gave him, as the surrounding pirates began to cheer and chant!

Eventually, Buggy defensives became less and less effective and more open to Arthur's attacks. The cowboy slashed and slashed as the clown laughed.

"You fool! You've allowed yourself to be easily overwhelmed!" Buggy laughed as he used all six knives in his hands to try and gut Arthur!

However, in doing so he left himself open to a straight decapitation if someone had a blade long enough to pierce his neck!

Arthur smirked as he realized how lucky he was that his knife had come with a damn sword button! Aiming the blade right for Buggy's neck, he pressed the button and slashed wildly! (He never used a sword in his life after all…)

But… Buggy's head didn't come off. Well, it actually did, but the problem was… It wasn't because Arthur cut it off, instead the clown's head was now detached from his body, floating and laughing as Arthur stood in disbelief.

"Your head comes off?!" Arthur gazed in bewilderment before two blades stabbed him on both sides of the body, just under the ribs.

Heeling over in pain, Arthur began to spit up blood as Buggy laughed.

"That's right fool! I'm a chop-chop user! Weren't you paying attention?" Buggy then reattached his head to his body, laughing like the crazy clown he was.

"Like Zoro… I didn't hit any vital spots, but I beat you! I win! And you… You lost!"

"Not quite!" Arthur spat a massive wad of blood right in Buggy's face causing him to step backwards and wipe his face as Arthur hastily removed both knives from his body and pulled out his Bolt-Action Rifle from inside his burlap sack.

Speedily reaching inside his satchel for a bullet as the clown laughed, he pulled out a bullet with a blue shell, a carving was on the side, it looked like a thundercloud.

"Hahaha! You think you can shoot me?! Now THAT'S funny!" Buggy laughed.

"Kick this big nose's ass cowboy!" The boy in the cage screamed as Arthur quickly pulled the bolt back and took aim.

"PREPARE TO DIE!" Buggy lunged with two knives aiming right for Arthur's throat… The cowboy held his breath… focused... and fired!

**CRACK!**

**BOOM!**

As the bullet flew into Buggy's side, a lightning bolt… Seemingly from out of nowhere struck the roof of the building, missing Buggy by a few feet! Sending everyone flying a few feet backward with a massive explosion and causing all of Buggy's limbs to fly off his body as though he were a house of cards falling over. There wasn't a cloud in the sky…. Yet somehow, somewhere… Lightning was able to save Arthur…. who coughed as a cloud of smoke covered the roof.

"Goddamn magic…" He gasped with astonishment, before getting up and realizing… The three people who were seemingly against Buggy were no longer present, they seemed to have left, using the smoke as cover.

Arthur then heard coughing as he saw a silhouette of a hand float in the air, deciding now would be a good time to leave… He quickly and quietly sprinted off the roof and down the stairs and onto the streets of the town.

"Goddamn…" Arthur groaned as he felt both sides bleed heavily from the cuts, it felt like his body was gored on both sides from a bull.

Pulling out some crackers from his satchel, Arthur quickly shoved them into his mouth as he fought through the pain, and continued to move through the city streets, gritting his teeth as his wounds continued to bleed.

Eventually, he came across the green-haired man and straw hat boy. The latter of which smiled at him as he approached.

"Heya!" The boy said as Arthur tipped his hat in response, grinning back.

"Still in that cage, huh?" Arthur asked as he sat criss-cross on the ground, relaxing.

"Yeah! You don't have the key do you?" The boy asked with slightly desperate eyes as Arthur shook his head.

"Sorry… Didn't have much time to grab things after I blew up the roof." He chuckled.

"What's your name?" the boy asked as Arthur took his hat off and set it on the ground.

"Arthur Morgan… Yours?"

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy! I'm gonna be king of the pirates someday!" Luffy said with stars in his eyes.

"Is that right? Say… You wouldn't happen to know the quickest way back to America, would you? This damn heat is too much." Arthur replied wiping drops of sweat off his brow.

Luffy stared blankly. "America? What's that?"

If Arthur had a pulse, it would have stopped for a few moments as he began to slap his head in frustration. Was he in on an Asian island that hadn't heard of America? Maybe somewhere near the Philippines or Fiji?

No… This world that he was in…. It had magical elements in it… The bullet, the clown detaching and reattaching his limbs... It was magic! Was he even on Earth?

"Luffy…. Can you tell what happened in the past few years?" Arthur asked as Luffy raised an eyebrow at this strange request.

"Well… Gold Roger, king of the pirates hid his treasure, the one-piece almost twenty-five years ago before being executed." Luffy then made a gargling sound while rubbing his finger on his throat, a gesture that represented killing to most.

"Gold Roger?" Arthur sighed… And turned away for a moment. "Godamn… So I really am in a whole different world." He quietly muttered.

"I thought everyone knew that." The green-haired man grumbled.

Arthur gave a toothy grin at this comment. "Well… I ain't from around here, I don't even know how or why I got here... And I don't think I ever will…" He then walked over to the green-haired man and extended a hand. "Arthur Morgan."

"Roronoa Zoro…" The green-haired man said, not shaking Arthur's hand at all.

"Right…." Arthur said, frowning at Zoro. "Well it was nice to meet you fellers… But I got a hell of a lotta things to figure out… So I'll see you boys around."

"Wait!" Luffy called as Arthur began to walk off.

"Yes?" He asked, looking back.

"I'm going to be King of Pirates someday! Which means… I'll need a strong crew, and you obviously have done this kind of thing before! The way you took on Buggy was awesome! So…. You wanna join?"

Arthur shook his head and quickly lit up a cigarette. "No… I think I'll pass, I was part of a gang before…." He then sighed and looked off as recollection began to take hold. "It didn't go well… Lots of people I cared about died… I got real sick… And the one person I thought I could trust, ended up betraying me…" He then looked back at Luffy. "Besides… I don't know what I want in this world anyway… Cept to get off this rock."

Zoro smirked. "The only way off this rock is with a boat, which you obviously don't have based on the way you dress…"

"I can always steal one… Get myself someplace warm and go into retirement…I deserve that more than anything else right now."

"Steal one?!" Zoro and Luffy then burst into laughter. "Boy… You really must not be from around here…."

"What are you talking about?" Arthur blew smoke in the air with a quizzical look.

"Let's just say there's no way in hell you'd be able to manage a boat all by yourself…" Zoro snickered as Luffy smiled.

"The only way off this island is with us… Or Buggy." The straw hat captain said as Arthur threw the cigarette on the ground and stepped on it, walking over to the caged boy with a very annoyed look.

"You mean to tell me that the only way off here is goin with you?" He grumbled as Luffy nodded.

"Face it Arthur… You know you wanna join me!"

"Now you listen here… IF I'm working with you, and that's a big godamn if! It's cause I got no other option, but I ain't looking for another group to join, I was nothing but loyal to my first gang, and you know where that got me? Beaten, shipwrecked, kidnapped, sick, and nearly killed… So if you even think of betraying me; I will see to it that both of you are left with nothing but bullet holes in your heads!" Arthur huffed as Luffy just grinned.

"So… Does that mean your in?" Luffy asked as Arthur nodded, the Cowboy then reached into his satchel chugged down a health tonic as the wounds in his sides were becoming unbearable.

throwing the empty bottle a few feet and plopping down next to the cage, Arthur sighed. Before noticing a small white dog sitting in front of a building a few feet away from the trio.

"The hell's with this dog?" Arthur asked as Luffy began to roll the cage closer and make faces at the dog. Whilst Arthur began to load standard bullets into his revolvers

"Hey guys…" Luffy started. "It's not moving at all!"

Both Arthur and Zoro responded with some version of "I don't care."

"I wonder if it's dead?!" Luffy asked as he poked the dog right in the face…. Only for it to bite him in the face three milliseconds later, both to Arthur and Zoro's shock.

"OW OW OW OW OW OW! WHAT'RE YOU DOING?! STUPID DOG!" Luffy shrieked as he struggled to pull it off his face, bouncing the cage around as Arthur just stared on in shock.

"Do you know the situation we're in right now?!" Zoro screeched at the idiot captain, only to faint from blood loss five seconds later.

As Zoro's body hit the ground, the dog finally let go… To which Luffy began to pant and yell "Damn dog!"

_What on Earth did I just get myself into? _Arthur thought to himself as he noticed the orange-haired girl from before approach, putting away his weapons as to not scare her.

"Heya navigator!" Luffy smiled as she walked up to the trio, staring at Arthur with a confused expression.

"Have you met the newest member? Nami this is Arthur! Arthur this is Nami!" Luffy laughed as Arthur tipped his hat politely.

"Howdy."

"You… You were the one who fought Buggy right? Why would you do that?" Nami asked suspiciously

"He blasted me with a cannon… And also he was keeping this fool in a cage." Arthur then gestured to Luffy. "So I figured that he was one of those people that need shooting."

"One of those people that need shooting?" Nami raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"That's right… I rob those who need robbing, save those who need saving, and shoot those who need shooting… At least, I used to do that… Before a lot of things happened…"

"What do you mean?" Nami asked with an even more puzzled expression.

"I used to run with a gang before... Until I got betrayed, and nearly died… But that was a while ago, and I wager most of them are dead anyway… Point is, I ain't afraid to kill and rob people who deserve it, but that don't make me a bad man... Just a man trying to survive in a world that don't want me."

"I see…"

"Besides… I ain't joining your crew here cause I wanna, I'm doing it cause it's the only damn way off this Island, cept for swimming of course."

"Same with me… Pirates are all evil and despicable…"

"Isn't everyone these days?" Arthur muttered as Nami turned her attention to Luffy.

"That reminds me…" She said, digging in her pocket and pulling out a rusty key as Zoro began to regain consciousness. "I guess you can have this since you DID help me!"

"Oh!" Luffy's smiled widened as Nami threw the key onto the ground. "The key to the cage! You went back and got it for me?!"

"Don't get the wrong idea!" Nami smiled. "I just didn't want to wind up owing you!"

As Luffy, Arthur and Zoro smiled at this gesture, the white dog began to draw closer to the cage, eating the key as soon as its eyes gazed upon it, swallowing it as a final insult to the boy trapped in the steel cage.

Arthur was the only one laughing as Nami, Zoro and Luffy's faces all went blank for a few moments; before the latter's turned to pure rage as he began to throttle the dog back and forth, screaming.

"Stupid dog! Stupid dog! It's not food! Gimmie that key back!"

An old man then began to approach from far away, he wore sandals and circular glasses, his hair was longer than Arthur's and his teeth pearly white.

"Stop that!" He cried as Nami and Arthur turned to look at him. All whilst Luffy wrestled with the small dog in his hands.

"Quit bullying Chouchou you young'uns!" He scolded, marching towards the four with an angry look.

Luffy then paused in his long battle with the dog as he stared at the old man with a raised eyebrow. "Chouchou?"

Zoro then spoke, his wound still opened as he leaned up against a small wooden pole on a porch. "Who are you, old man?"

"I'm the town's mayor!" The old man said, still yelling. "Who are you?!"

Arthur began to speak but was interrupted as the mayor observed Zoro's wound.

"My, what a terrible injury! I take it Buggy went after your folks too?"

Arthur nodded. "Yeah… But I was able to kick his ass... Don't know how, but I beat him."

The mayor shook his head, looking at the two stab wounds on both sides of Arthur, they were less extreme than Zoro's thanks to the health tonic, but they still looked horrible.

"We need to get you and him to a doctor!" The mayor sternly said, pointing to Zoro.

"I don't know about a doctor… But some rest might do me good…" Arthur yawned, rubbing his eyes. He wasn't sure when the time he slept was, or the last time he ate food. He figured he wouldn't have needed to in the afterlife, but then again he still felt a little hungry.

"There are two beds in this building behind me… Follow me and take your friend with you." The old man instructed, walking into the building.

As Arthur picked up Zoro and swung him over his shoulder, he made sure not to touch the wound as best he could.

"Watch it!" Zoro growled as Arthur's shoulder accidentally grazed Zoro's injured side as the cowboy began to walk, making the swordsman wince in pain.

"Quit your complainin!" Arthur shot back. "I coulda made you walk if I wanted."

As the two entered the building, The mayor instructed Arthur to put Zoro on a small bed that he just barely fit on, in a room right next to the stairs

After doing so, Arthur was led into a room upstairs, with another bed inside it, this room was much larger and the room itself led out onto the balcony.

"Thanks…" Arthur quietly said as the mayor left the room, to which the old man nodded.

"If you or him need anything, come find me and I'll see what I can do."

"Understood, but… Why help us?"

The mayor sighed, shrugging.

"I don't know… I've seen too many evil folks recently, I figure if you are trying to fight Buggy, you gotta be half decent… And I know of Zoro's reputation as a bounty hunter… You... I don't know, but if you're with him and you fought Buggy, I don't see why I can't try and help you folks out."

"Well… It's appreciated old man."

"Good…. Now get some rest!" The old man barked before leaving the room, leaving Arthur alone to sleep.

* * *

Author's Note: Gave Arthur some magical bullets because even though he's got some pretty nifty guns if I don't he's gonna be the weakest character in his own series.

Basically, the bullets will have a carving on them, said carving will show what power they have (Example: Fire Carving, Fire Bullet.)

Also Made Arthur younger so a romance with some of the females of the straw hats is possible!

Now that that's all out of the way, welcome to a brand new series that I'll continue to update and post new chapters on!

Probably will skip the filler episodes of the anime and focus on the big episodes, hence why I didn't dump Arthur in any episode before Orange Town, just because I feel like it isn't necessary and the noteworthy parts of Filler I'll mention but won't focus on in some of the later chapters.

Anways, I hope you enjoyed this long first chapter! Be on the lookout for more and if you liked this, feel free to follow and favorite as I feel like this is one of those stories that's gonna have a buttload of chapters!

Thnx for reading frens!


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